Get an apartment in your backyard at no cost to you

Rent the Backyard builds a studio apartment in your backyard & rents it out — splitting the profits with you. They pay for the apartment + handle its construction & management. You can make $10-20k/year in rental income and don’t give up any of your privacy.

Hi everyone, my name is Brian, co-founder of Rent the Backyard. Rent the Backyard was founded to help homeowners who want to earn extra income from their underused backyards, but don’t want to spend a ton of time or money to make it happen. Rent the Backyard provides a turnkey solution — we handle all the logistics of putting a studio apartment in your backyard — helping you earn $10-$20k per year in rental income with as little loss of privacy for you as possible.

@souite_home Thank you so much! We think our product could be great for people who have lived in their homes for a while and have seen home prices skyrocket -- unlocking that value in the form of rental income could be great!

Creative solution to a serious problem in the Bay. Of course NIMBYs and neighborhoods tend to fight against most creative approaches to housing (which aren't always invalid).
What's the been the biggest challenge or hurdle to overcome with a business like this, @brian_bakerman@spencer_burleigh?

Thanks @rrhoover ! There’s a lot of complex challenges here but I think the biggest is in how we normalize sharing your backyard space like this. Airbnb and others like it have given us a good start, but installing a backyard apartment is a bigger commitment than trying Airbnb for a weekend. People in California are increasingly aware of these “accessory dwelling units” and hopefully that eases the unfamiliarity, but it’s still our biggest challenge.

so out of the fortunate people living in the bay area having an at least 30x30 sqft backyrad, how many of them are triggered by an extra 10-12k rental income per year? Sounds like the price tag for a single bottle of wine they open every weekend ;-)

@jean_luc_winkler A surprising number of backyards are able to fit our studio apartments in their backyards. A lot of people in the Bay Area have been in their home for a while and have seen prices shoot up — we want to help people unlock some of that value through rental income, even if they don’t have a wine cellar in the back 😊

@jean_luc_winkler@brad_t Hi Brad - you’re totally right. This isn’t legal to do everywhere and we’re really mindful of local laws when we decide what areas to operate in.
The process we’ve gone through to learn more about these “accessory dwelling units” and how they’re regulated has made us really excited about California and the Bay Area in particular. Cities like San Jose are particularly welcoming and we’re excited to help homeowners there make money from their underutilized backyards, while increasing the supply of housing.
You can read more about why so many people in San Jose are really excited about accessory dwelling units here: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018...

@spencer_burleigh interesting but different motivation as far as I got it:
1) your solution: renting out the apartment in order to earn extra income
2) granny/in-law home in the backyard: building a place for beloved family members to stay (aslo be close to them, care for them and safe time while supporting them), possibly also cut the costs for their previous home/flat/house.
I think this comparison is not a very valid one. What am I missing here? To me, these are two very different target groups with different motivations.

@jean_luc_winkler For sure - people install these units for all sorts of reasons. From a city-code perspective though, whether installed to house family or a renter, they’re all considered an “accessory dwelling unit” and covered under the same laws.
We think homeowners can really benefit from the alternative financing we provide to get access to one of these units. Usually we’ll take care of finding and managing a renter, but if a homeowner wants to house a family member, that works for us too :) In that situation, you would just pay us half the market rent each month. This is a different type of customer, but both can benefit from a backyard unit.